Absentee voting is easy -- but ballots often tossed out

TALLAHASSEE -- More than ever, Florida residents are turning to absentee ballots, but those voters are also the most at risk to have their vote thrown out by Nov. 6.

About 1.4 million Floridians have cast their vote that way so far this year, a state spokesman said. It's supposed to be a smooth process: Voters fill out their ballots in the comfort of their living rooms and avoid long lines on Election Day.

Except that process is not error-free. Absentee ballots have gone to wrong addresses, been delayed in the mail and sometimes even been mysteriously canceled.

Plus, hundreds – possibly thousands -- across the state will be thrown out on Election Day because voters forgot to sign their ballots, or their signatures do not match those on their voter registration forms. During the August primary election, for instance, an Orange County canvassing board threw out 208 ballots for failing the signature match requirement.

"It's not a rarity," said Mike Ertel, supervisor of elections in Seminole County, who says he expects to reject as many as 250 ballots this fall. "For those voters, it's extremely important."

And those votes can matter. In a Democratic Senate primary in Palm Beach County in August, Jeff Clemens was declared the winner by 17 votes – while 40 absentee ballots were thrown out for bad signatures. And no one living in Florida can forget the 2000 presidential election that was decided by just 537 votes.

Central Florida has thus far appeared to be having few problems ramping up toward Election Day. However, the Orange County Canvassing Board, which reviews absentee ballots, will not meet until Thursday. Seminole County's board is also slated to meet this week to review ballots that have been returned.

The state could not provide information on how many absentee ballots were rejected in the 2008 and 2010 elections.

Lawmakers added the signature requirement last year – as part of a huge election reform bill -- to try to reduce fraud. Once elections officials determine the signature on the ballot doesn't match the one the voter has one file, the ballot is discarded and the voter is notified by mail. By then, there's usually nothing the voter can do to fix it.

Orange County Supervisor Bill Cowles actually tried to get out ahead of the signature issue last June, sending out 214,000 letters to voters whose registration files dated back to 1995 and those who had voted absentee since 2008. That's nearly one-third of Orange County's 640,000 registered voters.

The letters included a form requesting a new signature and a self-addressed stamped envelope to return it. Cowles at the time called it a "proactive" move, noting that people's signatures change with age and physical condition and that his office rejected 119 ballots during January's Republican presidential primary for bad signatures.

Asked Tuesday how successful the mailing had been, Cowles curtly replied that his office threw out 208 ballots in August.

The issue was highlighted In the state Senate primary in Palm Beach last summer. Losing candidate Mack Bernard sued, arguing that 40 ballots were wrongly discarded because of the signature issue and supplied affidavits from several of the voters that they had cast a valid vote. But a Tallahassee judge upheld the rejections, saying it was obvious the signatures didn't match. The ruling was upheld on appeal.

But during the appellate arguments, 1st District Court of Appeal Judge Nikki Ann Clark said she was going to check her signature at the Leon County elections' office.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said she will deliver her absentee ballot in person to ensure there were no issues with her signature on file with the elections office in Hillsborough County, where she's kept her home.

"I've heard people are getting letters back stating that their signatures don't match," she said. "So, folks, if you're voting absentee, don't scribble your name because it will get kicked back."

And with absentee ballots, there are no do-overs. Which is why some supervisors say it's much safer to vote the old-fashioned way.

"You have the opportunity to remedy every kind of problem when you vote in person," said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher.